1974

1973	1974	1975

(Nolini Kanta Gupta, August 1974:) “The Mother's prayer to Sri Aurobindo – so beautiful, so poignant and so true – we, her children, now turn round and re-address to her own sweet self.

“Lord, this morning Thou hast given me the assurance that Thou wouldst stay with us until Thy work is achieved, not only as a consciousness which guides and illumines but also as a dynamic Presence in action. In unmistakable terms Thou hast promised that all of Thyself would remain here and not leave the earth-atmosphere until earth is transformed. Grant that we may be worthy of this marvellous Presence and that henceforth everything in us be concentrated on the one will to be more and more perfectly consecrated to the fulfilment of Thy sublime Work.” (December 7, 1950)

The new creation that the Mother embodied is not lost, it is not wiped out with the disappearance of the material body. It has been a true creation and is indelibly implanted in the earth-atmosphere and will remain there for eternity. And it is not merely a static structure, it is a living and growing entity. It is not in the earth's atmosphere a mere image or a lifeless picture transfixed there as on a canvas strip. It is living and growing – living and growing not only in itself and for itself, bur making its habitat , the atmosphere, also live and grow in new dimensions, that is to say, transforming it in accordance with its own developing truth and reality. It is growing and characteristically growing downwards, that is to say, extending itself more and more towards an earthly manifestation or incarnation. It is like the Ashwattha tree spoken of by the Rishis of old that stands upside down, the roots upward and the branches spreading out downwards; indeed it is growing downwards, drawing its life-sap from above. The physical embodiment, the materialisation of the inner formation, will happen in course of time inevitably. It will touch the ground, the very ground of the earth, and stand as its marvel-creation – through a process of calamities and catastrophes perhaps, which may indeed be minimised if circumstances permit and the Grace admits; but whatever the process, the end is decreed, for the decree is that of the Divine and it is the destiny of the earth-consciousness.
         This is, however, the Mother's part of the work and she is doing it perfectly, on her side. But what about ourselves? What is our share of the work? For it is intended that we, her children, should be collaborators in her work, so that we too may be integrated into the Divine realisation. The Mother herself has indicated the line of service we can render to her in the communication I just read out to you:

“... henceforth everything in us be concentrated on the one will to be more and more perfectly consecrated to the fulfilment of Thy sublime Work.”

The situation has somewhat changed since then and has become more difficult. On the departure of Sri Aurobindo, some time after, Mother gave us a message, an admonition, pointing out to us the difficulty:

“To follow Sri Aurobindo in the great adventure of his integral yoga, one needed always to be a warrior; but now that he has physically left us, one needs to be a hero.”

At present when the Mother too is no more here – apparently – and we seem to be abandoned children, what are we to do or be? It is no longer sufficient to be a warrior, nor sufficient even to be a hero. What should we be? Something greater than a hero. One must be a Yogi. The Yogi is one who has the Divine Consciousness or the Mother's consciousness. If you find that it is not so easy for one to be a Yogi, even if one tries sincerely, I suggest to you another alternative. It is to leap into another dimension: to be a child, a child of the Mother.
         I give you this subject for meditation: on becoming … a child, an ideal child of the Mother.”

(Amrit:) “In 1974, just after the Mother's passing, Navajata of the Sri Aurobindo Society requested Panditji to install a special ‘yantra’ or geometric pedestal of power for the well-being and prosperity of Auroville. Accordingly, on his last trip to the Pondicherry Ashram in July 1974, Panditji visited Auroville, and on arriving at the Matrimandir construction site, pronounced that it was exactly at the Matrimandir that the yantra should be placed. However, heeding the objections of some officials of the SAS, Navajata declined Panditji's suggestion, requesting personal possession of the yantra – an offer refused by Panditji who was fully aware of possibilities of misuse.
         It was then that my first physical contact with Panditji occurred. In attending his Puja, I could feel him distancing himself with even some sense of disgust, and indeed, from this point, he ceased his visits to Pondicherry, returning to Rameshwaram with the yantra. After the trip to Auroville, Panditji referenced the ‘polluted’ nature of its atmosphere. He had also predicted to one of his Auroville devotees that one day the residents would revolt and throw out the SAS.
         After 1977, during my later association with him, I inquired about the yantra and its use. Panditji explained its significance as ‘Harmony that brings Prosperity’, to avert the calamities of the impending conflict which he saw coming – its refusal having its consequences.”

(Amrit:) “In the situation of those early days of drought and famine, Auroville sent out daily tanks of water to the villages to help relieve water shortages. The havoc this caused, often near riots, with some breaking the water pots of others to procure first for themselves the limited water rations, became daily occurences. Though it might be easy to criticize the local people for the confusion, selfishness and lack of social consciousness and cohesion during such times of crisis, the behavior of western educated Auroville residents also demonstrated such natural primal instincts for self-survival.
         At the time Certitude had two water pumps whose water levels had been depleted by the failure of the rains. Additionally, the electricity supply from the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board had been reduced drastically to three hours per day, making it impossible to maintain any of the gardens. Only drinking and minimal bathing water was available. As soon as the electricity was switched on, each resident naturally sought to fill his own tank, often turning off the flow to other tanks, causing an unseemly scramble. But given the severe reduction of current with each tank taking hours to fill, obviously some sort of systematic parceling of the electricity timings had to be formulated.
         It appeared the only fair organization of the water supply would be a calculation of the number of persons in each household, dividing the timings for the filling of tanks accordingly. And to the credit of all Certitude's residents, everyone agreed to my proposal, and cooperated, avoiding the conflict that seemed to mark the distribution of resources in the villages. In this instance, appeal to reason worked, though as evident from future events, this was not always to be the case.”

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